This season received writing credits from an astounding 16 people. If you look at some of the shows these writers worked on, post-Simpsons, though you begin to truly understand the talent that was at hand. There's Greg Daniels of course, who later co-created King of the Hill and Parks and Recreation, and developed The Office for American television. There's David Cohen (Futurama), Jennifer Crittenden (Seinfeld), and Ken Keeler (Futurama). Then there's Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein (showrunners for seasons 7 and 8), Mike Scully (showrunner for Seasons 9-12), and John Schwartzwelder (the most prolific writer with 59 writing credits and some considered the best).
These writers helped manage what they considered an impossible amount of episodes. The surprising thing to me is that the next three seasons are just as long and I would have thought The Simpsons had enough leverage to produce less episodes. The ratings were great, the quality was great, and it was a beloved show. If they wanted to produce less episodes, couldn't they have forced the network to simply accept it? (I mean they eventually were able to, but it just surprises me)
The two episodes that I mentioned above that suffer from your typical "golden era" Simpsons is the clip show of course and "Round Springfield." The former is simply unavoidable. While it is vastly superior to most clip shows, it's still inferior to the rest of the season. They make it as good as a clip show can be (well, Community technically did but that wasn't really a "clip" show so unfair comparison) to their credit. "Round Springfield" seems dropped from another season to me with the death of Bleeding Gums. It wasn't even written by the main staff of The Simpsons, but by The Critic writers. (Not sure I'd let this episode dictate my opinion of The Critic though as the other "controversial" episode, A Star is Burns, is actually pretty good despite Matt Groening's complaints.)
As always, the voice work done by the main cast (and the guest stars) is phenomenal. Not trying to take away from the writers, but they can make the most mundane lines hilarious. Dan Castellaneta, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, and Nancy Cartwright are national treasures both for their work on the family and for the recurring characters. (The other two, Julie Kavner and Yeardley Smith, are also good although play very few characters)
While I mentioned that the high episode order is evident, I don't want to act like this season is somehow below par. This may be my favorite season of The Simpsons - picking between this season and the fifth season is like picking between seasons two and four of The Wire - I don't really think you can go wrong with either choice. It's as quotable as the show has ever been, it has stone cold classics ("Itchy and Scratchy Land, "Homer Badman," and "Lemon of Troy"), and it's extremely funny.
"Itchy and Scratchy Land" rips on violence in cartoons and Disneyland, "Sideshow Bob Roberts" rips on politics, and "Lisa on Ice" rips on parents who care too much about their kids' sports (which scarily seems even more prevalent today). "Homer Badman" is an episode that also seems timely to watch now with the reporting in Ferguson. (To clarify, because that sentence can be misconstrued badly, I do NOT support Darren Wilson) Words can't possibly describe how great "Homer the Great" is with guest star Patrick Stewart the perfect choice for an underground secret club.
"And Maggie Makes Three" and "Lisa's Wedding" are two of those episodes that I would point to in season six having more heart than you'd expect. I'm just going to keep listing episodes that stand out for me, by the way, which is nearly every single episode. There's the fantastic "Bart's Comet," the aforementioned "Lemon of Troy" with its rival town, and "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds with Burns as evil as he probably will ever be. And I can't forget "Bart vs. Australia" with its completely bizarre idea of Australia.
I'm probably forgetting to mention your favorite episode, but it's hard to talk about more without just commenting on every episode. I'm not saying those episodes I didn't mention are bad or even worse than the ones mentioned above, they just don't quite make me laugh instantly upon remembering the insane plot or a funny quote. The sixth season of The Simpsons is simply about as good as a comedy show can get. (This is kind of an awkward way to end this post, but last paragraphs always suck to write and the last paragraph would just be filler cause I have nothing else to say.)
Grade - A
Playlist
1. "Seasons (Waiting on You)" - Future Islands
2. "Emotion" - The Bee Gees feat. Samantha Sang
3. "Pretend" - Bad Suns
4. "Go" - Grimes feat. Blood Diamonds
5. "Recover" - CHVRCHES
No comments:
Post a Comment